Soldering iron



Aug, 17, 1926. 1,596,061

` S.' M. MEYER SOLDERING IRON 'Filed Nov. 18',- 1925 lNvENToR wITN E55 Vf/v0 M. MEYER A Patented ug. 17, 1926.

iran srerss PATENT *,GFFECE- svmvn M. MEYER,

OF BROOKLYN, '.lfl'dll.T YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HERMAN L. RINGELMANN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SOLDERING IRON.

. Application filed November, 1S, 1925. Serial No. 69,827.

Soldering irons consist essentially of a large body of copper capable of holding a great amount of heat and having a pointed tip7 either integral with the body or sepao rate therefrom whereby the heat oi' the body of the iron can be applied to a limited point ot the work to etiect the soldering. Such copper bodies while hav-ing the advantages of great specitic heat and conductivity if.; combined with a fair degree of resistance to oxidation at low temperature, still have some serious drawbacks. hiet among these is the tendency when heated to form obnoxious gases, which are not only injurious to -humans, but act deleteriously on the surfaces at the tip of the iron, even when the said tip is not directly in the fire, chilling their brightness, so as to render them less eli'icient i in taking the tinning, without which sac- 2 cess-ful soldering is impossible. it is theretore common practice to continually renew the brightness of the tip by iling or by other abrasive means. Y

in my invention l make the heat absorbing body of aluminum or an alloy of aluminum while retaining the copper of the tip. The body may be all aluminum or be provided with a copper core. Such an iron even when heated to redness produces no fumes, so that the obnoxious edects produc-ed by the copper irons is obviated. Such aluininum irons possess the further advantage of being almost three times lighter than copper irons of equal heat capacity. The copper tips are secured on the aluminum body by a tongue and recess construction whereby a rapid flow of heat from the body to the tip is secured and the tip is further secured to the body by a wedge key that aids in the conduction of heat while presenting an easy means of attaching or detaching the tip without other aid than a light tap. Removable copper tips oi copper soldering tools are liable to become permanently attached to the copper bodies either by oxidation or soldering whereas it is desirable to have a construction that will allow easy detachment when cold. l/Vith an aluminum body such attachment of tip to body does not occur.

My invention is equally applicable to cauterizing instruments or the like. i

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown an embodiment of my invention l. Figure 1 represents a side view partially in section of the complete iron;

Figure 2 is a side view of'a special form or' tip;

Figure 3 is a side View and partial section of a cauterizing tool. Y

The main body of the soldering tool is shown at l. This may be inthe shape of a cylinder' or a prism.` Thisv body portion l make oi aluminum or an alloy of aluminum and some strengthening metal such as anti- -mony and copper, suchstrengthening component being always a small proportion ot theltotal, just enough in fact, to give the desired degree of hardness without materially increasing the weight. Y

At 2 is shown a core of copper which is cast `in the aluminum. The Vcore is provided withradial varies 3. This copper core gis so embedded in t-he aluminum as to be nowhere exposed to the atmosphere. It serves together with its vanes to equalize the distribution otheat throughout the length ot the aluminum body. This it does by virtue of its superior conductivity for heat. At one end of the body l, I form a recess 4l, preferably of cylindrical shape, which recess is adapted to form the socket for a cylindrical shank 5 of a copper tip 6. The shank 5 is intended to have a snug fit in the recessed socket 4 and is additionally held therein by means of a transverse key 7 passing through slots in the tip and the body. This key '.f' l prefer to make ot some metal havinga great expansion with heat such as cobalt alloys7 so that when heat is applied to the body and from thence to the tip and key, the expansion of the tip and the still greater' expansion of the key will bring the tip and key to firm contact with the aluminum body to not only hold the tip securely in place, but form a more perfect joint for the conduction of heat. At the other end or base of the body portion l, a brass or othersuitable metallic ring 8 is screwed onto the body and in a counterbored recess in said rim I secure a disk of refractory material 9, such for example, as any one of the more retracto-ry asbestos compositions. The upper side of this disk is recessed 'for the reception of a metallic washer 10. A screw 1l passes through the washer l0 and disk 9 and a nut lQsecures the same securely 1n- Vplace by clamping the washer l0 and disk 9 between the nut and the head of the screw.` A suitable handle 13 of wood or other material having poor conductivity is provided with a metallic bushing 14, which is adapted to screw on to the pait 11 until the handle, at'its inner end, comes in contact with the disk 9. The disk 9 may be h eld in the rim 8, by having a thin edge of the ring 15, spun over the edge of the disk in the manner shown. It Will be seen that an air space is lett bet-Ween the body 1 and the handle portion .so that the handle remains fairly Well lileatins'ulated `l'rom the`body,"the only contacts being through the insulating disk 9. In use only the aluminum body portion will be placed in the fire or the gas flame and' the handle lymay be removed during the heating ot the body. During this heating there Will be no fumes given off from the body as would be the 'case ivere the body made `of copper and the tip 6 being covered With tin Will remain untarnished. The body 1 Will remain also bright, clean and iiee from oxide. In Figure 2, I have shown a a ltip having a side point 6 as an'eXample ot one of the many forms thatl thetip may be inadeto have, all of which different forms would be made interchangeable with eacli other.

In Figure 3 I have shown a cauterizing -tQol or instrument. I-Iere the shank 5 oi copper for example, has a silver extension 16, the pointed end of which 17, has a gold or platinum coating 18. Such a cautei'izing tool may, in many instances, have advantages over an electrical instrument, as heat is more universally accessible than electricity. wWhile I have shown a particular eir- 'bodiment of m invention in Figure 1 I do not Wish to be limited to the specilic iorins shown therein as many moditic'ations will occur to those skilled in the art. hns the handle may be permanently attached to i long rod extending trom the body, or the tips may be securable on'tlie body lin many other Ways than that shown. It is evident also that the invention may be equally applicable to electric irons.

I claim A. heating tool of the character described comprising a body portion chiefly of aluminum, a central core therein of copper With vanes extending laterally into the aluminum body and a copper tip.

svEND M. MEYER. 

